Vehicle of the Week: Behemoth Heavy TankIt's an old, hoary proverb that you get to pick two of speed, armor, and firepower if you're lucky. The Behemoth, as might be expected from the name, went for armor and firepower. That name goes back to the Book of Job, referencing a beast so mighty that only God can create it or contain it. A good name, nay, a mighty name, but one difficult to live up to. TRO3039 spends some time establishing that the vehicle's design was out of character for the AFFS, though given their later decisions to procure things like the Morningstar, Challenger, and Ajax, it evidently led to a greater appreciation for slow, heavy armor after the design's 2952 introduction... and a certain discretion regarding the difference between slow and immobile. Built by Aldis Industries, famous for the Demolisher Heavy Tank and the Schrek PPC Carrier, and the Federated Suns' own General Motors, the Behemoth was intended to overwhelm 'Mechs with heavy firepower while supporting enough light weapons to keep other threats off of it. Aldis has since sold the design widely but the largest numbers are found in the AFFS and DCMS. One of the most infamous engagements was an aptly-described "crawling" firefight between a battalion's worth of Crucis Lancers Behemoths and a battalion of Capellan Home Guard Demolishers. While the description is troubling in some ways (what tank crew
isn't firing SRMs in close combat?), it demonstrates the thick, slab-like armor and the power of a Behemoth in close combat.
The baseline model of the Behemoth set the standards. Tipping the scale at 100 tons, the tank is the heaviest it can be under standard or introductory rules, and Aldis kept costs down with a GM-built 200-rated ICE. This means that the top speed of the tank is a mere 32 kph, tying with the
UrbanMech, but as a tank, the Behemoth both lacks the
UrbanMech's jump jets and requires more MPs to climb over terrain. Worse, they have basically no buffer against MP loss, a very common result of the vehicle critical charts, and are always worse off for targeting modifiers when they move. While the original proposal called for 21 tons of armor, only 13 tons of ArcShield standard plate was applied to save tonnage. Despite that, the 208 points were arranged well in a 46/38/40/46 pattern, providing a great deal of protection that very nearly meets a universal twin AC/20 test and will probably last at least as long as the tank's ammo does unless it's under a simply staggering volume of fire. In contrast to Aldis's existing Behemoth and Schrek designs, the Behemoth isn't built around a single set of the same weapon. The primary weapons are a pair of SarLon MaxiCannon class 10 autocannons fed by two tons of ammunition that share their turret mount with two Harvester 20K SRM 6 racks with their own two tons of ammo. Another four Harvester 2K SRM 2s are arranged with two forward and one to each side, with four MainFire Minigun machine guns in a similar arrangement, each fed by a ton of ammo. Finally, a quartet of LongFire Light LRM 5 launchers offer the ability to barrage opponents as they approach. While TRO3039 also mentions they're supposed to discourage pursuit, the fact is that unless the terrain is flat as a pancake, a Behemoth's nose has to be pointed forward to even try maneuvering, plus they're very, very likely to get immobilized, so I'm not sure how much that particular intention has to do with reality.
Two Introductory variants exist that I'm aware of. One was described in TRO3039, mounting two vehicle flamers forward and to each side in place of the SRM 2s fed by two tons of ammo. While that's going to have a distinct (and rather negative) impact on the willingness of infantry to close, I'm not sure whether the machine guns aren't redundant at that point in favor of, say, more flamer ammo for endurance and the option to mix types more freely. (Weirdo had some gleefully offbeat thoughts on the matter of alternative vehicle flamer ammo loads I'm hoping he'd be willing to reprise.) The other, slipped into RS3039 Unabridged without fanfare, looks at the original concept with 21 tons of armor, replacing the SRM 2s and machine guns with a prodigious (and excessive) 74/61/66/74 layout. While the original might have been a smidge on the thin side, this is ridiculous. The ammo loads are no higher, so assuming someone doesn't manage to blow the fuel tank, kill the crew, or trigger an ammo explosion while trying to kill it (granted, with this much armor and Succession Wars damage output being what it is, that's reasonably likely...), the armor is likely going to last past the point the tank is of any value as something other than an oddly-shaped bunker. That's a plus for crew survival but in terms of efficient use of the tonnage to accomplish the tank's tactical objectives, it's a minus. Exactly what relative weight endurance of mission capability vs. endurance of technical survival takes is tricky to assign, but the AFFS or Aldis opted for secondary weapons for whatever that does for your arguments.
A Civil War-era Kuritan refit overhauls the vehicle's firepower without fixing the real problem here. A new fusion engine is a nice, light 200-rated model, freeing up considerable tonnage and providing ten heat sinks the design doesn't actually use. The large array of missile launchers has been heavily consolidated into two LRM 5s facing forward with two MRM 10s and two SRM 6s in the turret. Artemis modules have been applied to all applicable launchers, with the LRMs sharing a single ton, the MRMs two tons, and the SRMs two tons of ammunition. The wisdom of this ammo allocation is perhaps a bit questionable but not as bad as it could be with the
other weapon change - two Ultra/10 autocannons fed by four tons of ammunition for an unchanged ammo endurance at Ultra fire rates. While the endurance isn't great, the range increase nicely offsets the LRM loss. The new firepower is dangerous and anyone who gets into close range with a Behemoth (Kurita) is going to regret that decision quite a bit. My best guess is that they're using it for urban engagements or other situations with heavily constrained movement options, possibly alongside the even more plodding Kanazuchi. The availability of Tonbos is something you'll want to guarantee if you have any intention whatsoever of using them strategically as something other than vaguely mobile turrets, though using them for mobility on a battlefield level is unfeasible.
As a tactical unit, the Behemoth is problematic. It represents a concentration of firepower that an opponent almost has to respond to but the speed is so low that an opponent can easily opt to respond by simply going around it, especially on larger maps. If forced into engaging a Behemoth, its contemporaries are in for an unpleasant situation, but this requires careful employment of terrain and valuable targets to force that choice on an opponent. They're best employed as defensive units, preferably in situations where the enemy can't advance too quickly but the Behemoth has LOS, giving the Behemoth's weapons time to tear into them. Unlike my perennial pet hate, the Burke, the Behemoth actually does have reasonably substantial armor and takes some effort to put down, but they're going to get immobilized very quickly, so either place them in their firing positions at the beginning or make all haste to getting there before the enemy is able to bring weapons to bear. Once in position, fling fire at the enemy until either your ammo or someone's armor gives out.
Dealing with a Behemoth is conceptually simple - either avoid it or disable it and
then avoid it - but anyone using a Behemoth is generally aware of the fact that they move like someone poured molasses over the map sheet and takes steps to deal with these weaknesses. If possible, you need to spike their plans by disabling the Behemoth quickly before it reaches a good position to cause trouble. Anything that generates a lot of clusters quickly will make things easier and as usual the LB 10-X is an excellent suggestion, as are SRMs on a fast platform like the Cavalry VTOL from last week. Once it's either immobilized or in position, engaging it is best down by either plinking at range, preferably beyond range 10, or avoiding it to deal with other units and return to handle the Behemoth, preferably from the stern. The armor difference isn't particularly noticeable and not having the additional SRMs firing is worth it. If you can arrange to lock the turret, so much the better.
Visual References: The Behemoth, despite its age, has only had one standard bit of art, available at
the MUL database; the CCG image is
up at Sarna for the curious. CamoSpecs has two miniatures, one
in 1st Free Worlds Guards colors and one
from the Qanatir MTM.
